Dream Forest
by Wyn G. Aarden
Summary: If I knew, I'd tell you. I swear.


Title: Dream Forest  
Author: Gwynn  
Part: 01  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. For rest of disclaimer, see bottom note.  
Warnings: Surreal (kinda), AU, RPG-style, slight language, shonen ai, angst  
Pairings: 1+2+1  
Note: This is based on an online Free Form Role Playing Game (FFRPG) session with a friend of mine. Since HE is in charge (he's DMing, for those familiar with rpg terms), I know only as much as you do. This is more or less what happened. I will fill in the missing information. For more information about the original characters (Kalends- me- and Denadrin- him) visit the Vampyre Inn Website (You'll make the creator so happy if you do...)   
http://www.geocities.com/darkseraph82  
Terms: Jumi is from Legend of Mana, a game; the kalends of April is the first day of April, also known as April Fools day.  
Cast (aka the people that the GW cast is replacing)  
- Kalends = Duo  
- Denadrin = Heero  
- Ides = Solo  
- Soroth = Wufei  
- Opal = Relena  
  
  
On a distant world known as Iroch, there is a mysterious forest, filled with many an unknown creature. Near the forest is a beach, the waters dark and enigmatic as the forest. And yet, neither the beach and the forest are quite as strange as the two-storey gothic building that is near them both. The windows indicate there are people inside.  
  
It is the Vampyre Inn.  
  
The door opens and someone leaves. The person, a young man, walks out into the woods, muttering to himself. He is approximately five feet and one inch tall, with long chestnut hair that is pulled back in a braid. He is wearing mithril chain armour with a black, glittering gem set over his heart, soft doeskin gloves and a long, trailing white cloak. A beautiful, jewelled sword rests on his hip. His name is Duo, and he is an incarnation of chaos.  
  
A rather pissed off incarnation of chaos, actually. As he walks towards the woods, another young man jogs up beside Duo. He is somewhat taller than Duo and has unruly brown hair and sapphire eyes. He was wearing a broadsword strapped to his side, scale mail and a dusty yellow cape. Tied around his head is a reddish coloured bandana and he carries a kite shield of a sword superimposed on a golden sun. On his other side is a more elaborate sword, known to a select few as the Sword of Mana.  
  
His name is Heero Sapphire, Jumi knight. He is also Duo's dearest friend. When Duo and Heero first met, Duo had known no one at the Inn, and Heero had been very withdrawn. Heero's Guardian, another Jumi named Relena had been killed, and he felt as though he had failed her.  
  
Duo had invited Heero to dance, and Heero had accepted. Slowly but surely, they had become friends. At first, Duo's memory constantly reset itself, but Heero accidentally discovered how to make memories stick. He had given Duo a book about the Jumi to read and because it was history, Duo absorbed the information and began retaining his memories.  
  
Unfortunately, this provoked graphic nightmares of the slaughter of the Jumi race. By this time, Duo was a permanent housemate at Heero's cabin in the Forest. The gentle vibrations of Heero's Jumi Core kept the nightmares at bay. It was quite common to see Duo sleeping on the couch, head resting on Heero's lap.  
  
And it was to that couch that Duo was heading.  
  
"You alright?" Heero asked as he reached Duo's side. Duo met Heero's concerned gaze, eyes weary.  
  
"Hmm? Oh yeah, swell," Duo replied.  
  
"Alright," Heero said, plainly not believing him. He put an arm around Duo to help him get home. "You look exhausted," Heero pointed out. Duo ran a hand through his hair. He told the slight warm, fuzzy feeling to go away. He contented himself with smiling at Heero.  
  
As they continued through the forest, Duo tried to push back the still persistent feeling.  
  
'I do not have a crush on my best friend I do not have a crush on my best friend...' he repeated to himself.  
  
"Here we are home again," Heero observed as he opened the door.  
  
"Jiggitey-jog," Duo added. He walked straight over to the couch, plunking himself down with a sigh. Heero plopped down next to Duo. He had a slightly amused expression on his face.  
  
"Heh, you gonna fall asleep here again?" he asked. Duo smiled bitterly.  
  
"I might when I wind down. Right now I'd rather howl at the moon." Heero frowned slightly, a bit disappointed his jesting had fallen flat.  
  
"Why howl at the moon?" Heero asked, half turning to look at him better.  
  
"Frustration, mostly. Wufei is a jerk, but he's Solo's jerk. Unfortunately, if I feel... frustrated... in his general direction, Edge wants to fry him six ways past Sunday. It's distracting," Duo explained.  
  
Wufei was a Nightmare, a powerful lord in his own right. Solo, once an incarnation of Death, was now a Nightmare, and his lieutenant as well as lover. Arcanum's Edge was Duo's recent acquisition, a gift of sorts for retrieving a certain lost artifact. Arcanum's Edge was created from a dream, and reacted to nightmares and nightmare creatures. Solo had reported that Edge hummed around him, a nasty noise. Wufei had never liked Duo, and the feeling was mutual. Tonight's confrontation was the last thing Duo needed, particularly after Solo's urging to discard the powerful blade.  
  
Heero had no solution. Well, except one. "Well then, why not change into some more comfortable clothes and just come back out here and unwind?" Heero suggested. Duo smiled.  
  
"Sounds good to me." Duo stood up and walked to his rather underused bedroom and slipped out of his precious armour. After putting it away, he slipped on light, loose violet pants and a black, loose shirt. He walked back out and sat on the couch again.  
  
Duo blinked a bit, suddenly feeling really sleepy. Exhaustion dragged down on his eyelids and he yawned. Suddenly, the compulsion to sleep was nearly overwhelming. He looked over at Heero, vision slightly hazy.  
  
"Ooh, a human pillow..." Duo commented, leaning over and resting his head on Heero's lap. Heero glanced down at Duo. He smiled gently.  
  
"Heh, technically a Jumi pillow," Heero pointed out.  
  
Duo muttered a muffled "Whatever."  
  
Heero leaned back against the couch, getting the blanket and puts it over Duo. He placed a gentle hand on Duo's back as Duo drifted off to sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
Duo found himself standing in a forest. The trees swayed slightly in the breeze, leaves rustling quietly. Duo looked around.  
  
"Tree left. Tree right. Tree. Tree. Tree," Duo observed dryly and began to look around. All he could see was trees. After a while, Duo spotted a purple-skinned imp. It appeared to have been watching him. It circled around him in the air. Duo looked at the imp and followed it with his eyes.  
  
"Hello?" Duo said uncertainly.  
  
"Hi!" the imp replied cheerfully. "Sooooooo... who might you be?"  
  
Duo smiled at the imp. "I'm Duo. Pleased to meet you."  
  
"Oh no, the pleasure is mine," the imp said enigmatically. "Someone new to play with..."  
  
"Are you lonely?" Duo asked, expression sympathetic.  
  
"Oh no no no no, heavens no," the imp assured him. "But we'll be in touch; in the mean time enjoy!" The imp then disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
  
Duo blinked. "Enjoy? Enjoy what? Hey!" There was no answer. He glared at the trees. "Okay, now what?"  
  
Duo looked around, wandering a bit to see whether he could find that imp again... and strangle it's unhelpful self. After a while, Duo was cranky and lost. Then, he saw someone he'd never expect. Heero. Heero looked like his usual self, though his armour appeared more formal, as if ceremonial. Duo blinked, then a huge smile appeared on his face.  
  
"Hi Heero! Nice duds! What are you-- or I for that matter-- doing here?" Duo asked, running up to him. Heero shrugged.  
  
"Hmmm? I dunno why you're here, but I'm here to be with you," Heero said, voice warm. Duo blinked, then shook his head as if to clear it.  
  
"Okay," Duo said brightly, though an uneasy feeling swept over him. 'Has Heero ever said anything like that to me before..?' he wondered to himself.  
  
"Isn't that enough?" Heero asked gently. As Duo tried to assimilate that one, Heero stripped off his armour, leaving himself in casual clothing, plain trousers and a shirt open low to allow his core to peek out. He put an arm around Duo. Duo smiled at Heero.  
  
"Maybe for a little while, but I'd still like to know why. I like the company though." Duo felt warm and fuzzy, an interesting counterpoint to the persistent uneasiness. He was distracted from his thoughts a moment when with the arm Heero had around him runs his hand through his hair.  
  
"So you don't have any plans I take it?"Heero asked. Duo blinked, looking curiously at him for a moment. 'That was unexpected....'  
  
"Well, no, not at this very moment," Duo said. Something prompted him to be cautious, while another part of him revelled in the unusual attentiveness of his friend.  
  
"Well that's good," Heero said. "Perhaps then we can just get to know each other a bit more. We never really did that all that much." Duo smiled.  
  
"I'd like that," Duo said. 'But you were there when it counted... when I thought the grief and anger would kill me. You taught me how to use my sword, took me in when I was alone... cared enough to help me fix my memory.... that was more than enough. And now....'  
  
"That's good," Heero was saying as Duo snapped his attention back to the warm, caring Jumi. "I've been neglecting you." Heero's voice was warm. Duo shivered suddenly as he was caught in a swirl of conflicting emotions; feeling wrong but very, very right. He continued to smile.  
  
"Well, we're busy people--" Duo began,  
  
"That's still no excuse for how nice a person you are," Heero insisted. Duo blushed and ducked his head.  
  
"Nice of you to say so."  
  
Heero pulled Duo closer, then tilted his head up. "No need to hide your pretty face. It's the truth," Heero insisted. Duo blinked.  
  
"Umm... wow?" Duo managed. With that, Heero did something rather odd. He put his other arm around Duo, holding the braided chaos being against him and gave Duo a long kiss.  
  
Duo melted under the feeling of warm lips on his. 'It feels so good...' He suddenly pulled back. 'ShitshitshitshitSHIT!'  
  
"Shit, this is not right, Heero doesn't DO..." Duo stammered and tried to walk away. He shouted at the top of his lungs. "THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"  
  
Heero held onto him as he tried to pull back. Duo was finding the warm feeling of pleasantness hard to fight. "What, this isn't to your liking?"  
  
Duo tried to pull away, though it was getting harder. "You aren't LIKE this... it's not real... someone is making fun of me..." Duo bit back a sob. He wanted it to be real. Gods, how he wanted it to be real...  
  
"Why not just relax and enjoy?" Heero asked, giving him another kiss. Duo's arms snaked around Heero's neck, returning it. Duo's eyes closed. He was finding it so hard to resist.  
  
"It isn't right... we should NOT be doing this..." Duo breathed, eyes inches from Heero's.  
  
"And why not?" Heero asked. On his face was a smile totally unlike his own. Duo tried to remember why.  
  
"Because... it's... not... real..." Duo said finally.  
  
"Awwww..." Heero said and in a puff of smoke disappeared. The smoke slithered out of Duo's arms and coagulated a few feet in front of him into the shape of the imp. "I thought that's what you wanted," the imp continued, tone mocking. Duo had known it was an illusion, but it still hurt. He   
scowled at the imp.  
  
"Well, YES it's what I wanted," Duo admitted before continuing, "but it's not what should happen! Heero has a duty, to his people, to his guardian. Not to me! And Jumi can't DO that... Heero explained how Jumi go about making little Jumi once. And that's NOT IT! So stop the flipping world, I want to get off!" Duo's voice had risen steadily until it came to a loud and hostile volume.  
  
"So what just because he can't have kids that's a reason why he can't feel love?" the imp asked, still mocking him. The imp was completely unphased by Duo's scowl. Duo wrapped his arms around himself.  
  
"When we beat the Lord of the Jewel Beasts, Heero will go about reconstructing the Jumi and help his people. I will stay here. End of discussion," Duo said firmly, though it hurt him to say so.  
  
Heero's ultimate mission was to resurrect the slaughtered Jumi people, who had been hunted for their valuable cores by those greedy enough to murder an innocent race. Duo had vowed to help Heero take back the Jumi City from the Lord of the Jewel Beasts, the controller of the creatures created to hunt down the Jumi. Heero believed that once the Lord was dead, the Jewel Beasts would fall apart, and he would be free to bring back his race. Heero also believed that the cores he had recovered contained the souls of the lost Jumi, and could bring them back. Duo hoped and prayed that Heero would succeed, though every day he was afraid that Heero's people would never attain the peace they so badly deserved.  
  
The imp peered at him, seemingly looking through her into him heart. "Doesn't seem that way to me," the imp observed. "I see something about a trip your gonna take with him after you do that. A tour of his world I believe." The imp floated down in front of him.  
  
Duo looked at the trees. They were fascinating, really. "So?"  
  
"So," the imp said with exaggerated patience, "you aren't staying here then, now are you?"  
  
"I'll go back," Duo stated flatly. The imp then looked at his wrist, as if there was a watch on it, though there obviously wasn't.  
  
"Aww looks like my time is almost up," the imp taunted.  
  
"What a shame..." Duo said, tone as sarcastic as possible.  
  
"Well, just keep your eyes open for opportunities in the future," the imp said in farewell. "I'll be around though, don't you worry..." The imp grinned and vanished, as did the dream forest. Duo woke from his forced sleep and sat up abruptly.  
  
"Whoa," Duo said. In the real world, two hours had passed and Heero was snoozing himself, one hand on Duo. When Duo sat up, Heero woke up.  
  
"Hmmm?" Heero asked sleepily, looking at Duo. "Problems Duo?" Duo looked at Heero and flushed down to his roots.  
  
"I need to take a walk. Go, umm... back to sleep," Duo said. Heero blinked.  
  
"Is everything alright?" Heero asked in concern, but Duo was already up and out the door.  
  
'No, everything is not alright,' Duo thought.  
  
End Session 1 


End file.
